In shuttleless looms and more particularly in those looms in which weft yarn is supplied from a stationary source located outside of the lateral limits of the warp yarns, it is customary to insert each pick of weft by means of a reciprocating carrier or carriers which are mounted on inserters. In a common type of shuttleless operation, a supply of weft is located adjacent the right hand side of the loom and each pick is drawn from the source and inserted into the shed formed between the warp yarns. Insertion is initiated by means of an inserter on the right hand side of the loom, this inserting carrier moving the yarn to approximately the midpoint between the two sides of the loom. At the time the end of the weft yarn arrives at the middle of the warp shed, a carrier mounted on an inserter located on the left hand side of the loom grips the end of the yarn and pulls it the remainder of the distance across the loom. This type of insertion is commonly referred to as the Dewas or gripper insertion system since the extending carrier actually grips or clamps the end of the yarn to be drawn through the warp shed.
When utilizing this system of weft yarn insertion, it is obvious that consistent and accurate transfer of the weft must be made between the inserting and extending carriers. In the past, a high degree of reliability has been accomplished by utilizing comparatively large, relatively heavy, cast inserters and while these inserters did perform reliably, they were expensive to manufacture and difficult to replace when replacement became necessary due to accident or wear.
It is a principle object of this invention to provide an improved extending carrier which is both simplier and cheaper to manufacture and which can be replaced expeditiously.
A further object of this invention is to provide an extending carrier which is produced solely from plastically deformed non-cast parts.
An additional object of this invention is to provide an improved extending carrier in which the gripping pressure between gripping elements can be readily adjusted.